


The Tower shall Stand

by ArsitRouke



Category: The Dark Tower (2017)
Genre: Fix-It, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-18 22:01:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11883705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArsitRouke/pseuds/ArsitRouke
Summary: Roland Deschain was so tired. A weariness deep to the marrow of his bones made him feel heavy with the weight of a quest that spanned years, centuries. Such exhaustion could make your resolve weak and your mind forgetful – So he had, indeed, forgotten the face of his father, and how strange it was that it should be this young boy that brought it back to him, crisp and clear.





	The Tower shall Stand

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a huge TDT fan and since I was a bit disappointed with the movie, and can't sleep at all tonight, I wrote a small fic about the ending I would have liked.

Roland Deschain was so tired. A weariness deep to the marrow of his bones made him feel heavy with the weight of a quest that spanned years, centuries. Such exhaustion could make your resolve weak and your mind forgetful – So he had, indeed, forgotten the face of his father, and how strange it was that it should be this young boy that brought it back to him, crisp and clear.

Grief and rage had haunted him for too long, like a trap designed to muddy his connection to the white, he could see that now, the man in black’s cruel game to keep the last descendant of the line of Eld from the tower.

But it was a warm, calm certainty that washed over him now – A soothing balm for his tumultuous soul, his heavy bones, his muscles aching with the effort of shooting his way through a small army of the crimson king’s creatures wearing stolen human skin. It was warm as the guns in his hands, this tranquillity that came over him while finally facing the man in black, and Jake behind him in that monstrous breaker chair. The man who had destroyed everyone he had ever loved, and the boy who had found a way into his heart and reminded him of his true purpose.

Walter had finally come to face him, arms outstretched, maintaining his gaze with a feverish smile. He said something that the gunslinger didn’t catch, since his attention was now completely turning to Jake, and all he could hear was the shiny static of the portal, and through it, a message.

A clumsy psychic communication, not forming words inside Roland’s head but feelings. A different kind of calm, one that came from understanding, from the tiny bit of Jake that was not being used for breaking the beam but travelled through it to be connected directly to the Tower. And an outpouring of love, approval and pride, so pure and uncomplicated that it almost brought tears to the old man’s eyes.

  
Roland knew then. He wouldn’t let the man in black take Jake away from him too, he wouldn’t let him use him like this. Revenge seemed now so petty and small, a child’s fancy compared to what was really at stake. The Tower shall stand.

He already had his guns up. He only had to deviate one of them ever so slightly to the right, quick as ever, his mind catching up with his hand just as his finger pulled the trigger, his heart light as a feather and sharp as a knife delivering the cleanest kill.

The man in black realised what Roland had done too late to catch the bullet, and screamed in a sudden fury, spinning around to watch the rose of blood bloom between Jake’s eyes, its light going out at the same time the light of the terrible weapon behind him disappeared, making the Tower safe once more.

Walter crossed over but being closer only confirmed that the boy was dead, and his chance to make the Tower fall in one fell swoop was deader still. Cursing and cloaked in flames, he ran to another portal, deflecting bullets as he did so, disappearing fast into the white sands. Roland reached it with an unreadable face, pausing a moment to breathe in but not to doubt, not to look back at the young corpse in the chair, his gunslinger blood pushing him to continue the chase.

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.


End file.
